2 minute read
Expansive Dances
The National Ballet of Canada’s virtual season kicked off in September 2020 with Expansive Dances, a series of three dance shorts created or adapted in isolation by the company’s Choreographic Associates and filmed by Canadian videographer Ben Shirinian. The solos unfold in open spaces that subvert the state of confinement associated with global lockdown measures, functioning both individually and as a powerful triptych. The films were a valuable creative outlet for our artists during the shutdown and gave audiences a chance to reconnect with the company in a new digital space.
Lulu
Choreographed by Guillaume Côté Music by Max Richter and Kevin Lau “Lulu is a work about a woman running away
Featuring Heather Ogden from her situation and coming to terms with saying goodbye. Letting go of a tainted past, she wants to start over. Start new. It’s a solo about the courage and strength to move on.”
– Principal Dancer and Choreographic Associate Guillaume Côté
Praise for Expansive Dances
– Carmen Cutajar via Facebook
“Wow! So beautiful. Thanks for posting these amazing pieces while we can’t see our stunning NBC cast perform.” – Marcus A. Aqui via Facebook
– Karen Olscamp via Facebook
Expansive Dances is made possible by the generous support of The Delaney Family Foundation and Sans Limites.
The National Ballet of Canada Presents Expansive Dances In partnership with Evergreen.
“In Between was originally inspired by a pull In Between between two places. Having grown up in Choreographed by Alysa Pires Featuring Christopher Gerty B.C. and now living in Toronto, I feel at home Music by Adam Sakiyama in both places but always a bit homesick for the other. These themes of being unsettled and longing for comfort and familiarity relate to our experience throughout the pandemic.”
– Choreographic Associate Alysa Pires
Lake Maligne
Choreographed by Robert Binet Featuring Spencer Hack Music by Arve Henriksen and Smog “Lake Maligne was inspired by the work of Lawren Harris and so is deeply connected to nature and all the symbolism of the natural world. It was exciting to revisit this work and set it amongst the natural elements that inspired it.”
– Choreographic Associate Robert Binet
